


Untitled

by dearwhimsy



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: Angst, Domestic, Drabbles, Humor, Multi, Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-05-19
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2017-11-05 14:55:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 2,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/407736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearwhimsy/pseuds/dearwhimsy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of mostly unrelated drabbles.</p><p>Latest: James does not pine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Blood and Gold

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Untitled](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2536190) by [Furimmer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Furimmer/pseuds/Furimmer)



Sometimes when he can’t sleep, Tony tries to calculate his karmic balance. How many people dead thanks to his inventions? How many lives ruined by his existence? How much blood is on his hands? He counts and estimates and he knows before he even starts that the answer is already _too many, far too many_.

 

Tony tells himself that Iron Man will absolve him. He knows that it never will. What is Iron Man, but itself blood and gold, a rich fool’s attempt at salvaging what little soul he has left? Tony could almost laugh at how pathetic and futile it is, like trying to wash oneself clean with tears when drowning in an ocean of blood. 


	2. Failure to Succeed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony Stark is a failure.

They parade him about as the epitome of success and excess, the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist. Tony Stark closes his eyes and remembers the cold in his father's eyes and of the bottle he's always got in hand. He remembers the heat of sand and blood when the weapons he'd made demonstrated their power, his worth. He remembers and he knows them to be wrong and his father right. Tony Stark is a failure.


	3. The Sun and the Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki is forever in the dark.

Thor has always been the sun to Loki's moon. Heart and courage as golden as his thick locks. To him, had always gone all the glory and worship. Loki, in contrast, is forever shrouded in mists and darkness, showing always a different face and still keeping many a dark secret. The light with which he shines is little more than pale reflection of Thor, scattered beams bestowed on him by his dear gracious brother. Once, he'd been grateful for those morsels. Now though, as ice claims him, he turns from the light, forsaking the sun and moon for the darkness between the stars.


	4. Under the Suit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever wonder what's under the suit?

"Steve, hey Steve, remember when we first met and you asked me what was under the suit?" Steve looks up from his sketching to Tony who had just burst into his room and for some reason, fully suited up in his iron man armor. "Well, do ya?" Tony demands. Hesitantly, Steve nods. Then before his slowly widening eyes, Tony begins to shed the armor piece by piece, revealing tanned and toned skin, completely naked save for a bright Red. Silk. Thong. "You like?" Tony smirks. Steve swallows hard and lets the sketchbook fall from his hands.


	5. Tony on Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Falling (out) of love.

People talk all the time about how to find love, how to fall in love, or how to stay in love. Tony just wants to know how to stop. Because it hurts, it's tiring, and it's keeping him from his beauty sleep thinking about all those people who have stolen bits of his heart and won't give them back. He wants to stop loving, not fall in love with yet another person, not again, not even if it's Steve. His heart's already missing too many pieces and the arc reactor can only do so much.


	6. Salvation and Condemnation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That which heals, may also harm.

When Tony figures out that he's dying, that the palladium that was his salvation is now his death sentence, he traces the lines of poison and laughs. Jarvis asks him _what now_? And Tony thinks, I'm going to die. And Tony thinks, I deserve it. He's tried so hard, gone so far, still he cannot wash the blood from his hands and now it's time to pay the price for his sins. He stares into the mirror at the patterns of blue radiating from the arc reactor. It's almost beautiful.


	7. A Good Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve is a good man. Tony is not.

The thing about Steve is that he’s a good person. The thing about Tony is that he isn’t. He does, however, have enough decency to keep his distance, to say no when Steve, adorably blushing, asks him if he would like to get some fondue. Tony says no because even if Steve’s eyes fill with disappointment and hurt now, even if Tony desperately wants to say yes, he knows in the end that this will be better for Steve. Because Steve is a good person and Tony…is not.


	8. Veritas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why need has he to lie when the truth serves his purpose far better?

They call me the God of Lies and proclaim themselves guardians of truth. In all honesty, I must applaud them for their own skills in deceit. They’ve managed to fool not only the sheepish masses but also themselves. They speak their lies with such conviction yet suspect my every word and gesture of falsehood though I speak it not. No, no, far be it that I should encroach upon their realm of mastery. Besides, the truth is far more fun, more destructive, more _cruel_.

 

Trust me, I would know.


	9. Happy for Tony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy is Happy

Happy Hogan is Tony Stark's man through and through. He's cheered for the billionaire even at his lowest, would and has put his very life at risk for him. He wants what's best for Tony, just wants the guy to have some honest joy in his life because it's a sadly rare thing for the other man. So that's why when Tony finally got the girl, Happy couldn't be, well, happier. So that's why, he'll always ignore, always keep hidden, that little burn in his heart when he remembers that the girl is Pepper.


	10. Dreaming of Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man? - ZhuangZi

Ever since the ice, Steve has always known when he was dreaming and when he was awake. Everything in his dreams stand out in vivid detail, the snowflakes drifting between his and Bucky’s outstretched hands, the deep red of Peggy’s lips against the white of her teeth like blood on snow when she speaks. His dreams always feel right, feel _real_. It’s the waking world that doesn’t.


	11. FOR SCIENCE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

BOOOM!

The lights flicker briefly and Clint shuffles a bit to keep his perch on the fridge. A moment later Thor strides into the kitchen because demi-gods are apparently incapable of simply walking into a room. "I SEE THAT THE MAN OF IRON AND THE SOMETIMES GREEN DOCTOR ARE PERFORMING 'SCIENCE' AGAIN!"...and also apparently incapable of simply talking at non-booming decibels. 

Natasha nods absently at Thor and continues to sharpen her knives. Next to her, Steve only sighs resignedly and flips to a new page of his newspaper. Clint wonders if anyone else is hearing the faint manical laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....I want to write more domestic avengers. Dare I say it? I actually want to make a full fic out of this one, just lots of Avengers being all domestic and stuff in between saving the world. Anyone got some suggestions for more?


	12. It Wasn't Worth It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But It Was Supposed To Be

Tony knew when they placed the Act in front of him that there would be a heavy price to be paid in the end. if he wanted to bury the SRA, he’d have to bury it in someone’s grave. He’d just always assumed _always hoped_ it’d be his own.


	13. Three Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper has always been the practical one.

Pepper Potts knows these three things to be true:

 

1\. Pepper Potts is in love with Tony Stark.

2\. Tony Stark is in love with Steve Rogers.

3\. Steve Rogers is in love with Tony Stark

 

Given these truths, there was really only one inevitable conclusion. She only hopes, as she gives JARVIS the order to pack up her stuff, that one day they'll be able to forgive each other.


	14. The Suit and I Are One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He doesn't know anymore if Iron Man refers to him or the suit and to be honest, it doesn't really matter. After all, they're both just weapons in the end.

The thing about weapons makers was that they couldn't help but turn _everything_ into a weapon including, or perhaps especially, themselves. Paring away mind and heart to find despair, learning to bleed dry anyone and everyone with words and steel alike. Honing their edges till there’s else nothing left and they’ve forgotten how to reach out to others without cutting them open.

And when there’s no one left to target, when the blood has dried and stained everything in shades of red, they’ll turn on themselves. After all, what use is a weapon if there’s no enemy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tired. So very tired.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been over two months but Rhodey can't let go

“Did you know? He was a few yards from me when they stole him.”

Pepper stares down into her glass of red wine and tries to tune out Rhodey’s drunken ramblings. It should be Tony sitting here listening, not her.

“I keep dreaming about it. Him calling out my name and I turn and grab him and I’m trying to pull him to safety but he turns to sand in my arms and there’s blood everywhere and I still hear him shouting and I can’t…”

Pepper squeezes her eyes shut. She doesn’t want to hear this. Can’t stand hearing this. It’s been over two months now and they haven’t even gotten a ransom demand.

“Just a few yards away and I let them take him. But I'm going to bring him back. I'm going to find him and bring him back where he belongs.”

It wasn’t his fault. She knows that. It really wasn’t but she doesn’t know if she can say it out loud and mean it. So she keeps silent and lets Rhodey keep mumbling about sand and distance and Tony, Tony, _Tony_.

The next morning, Rhodey heads back to scour the sands for the man he lost and Pepper doesn’t say goodbye.


	16. Nature Observations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avengers in their not so natural habitats

Bruce feels a little like David Attenborough. Tonight we examine the natural habitat of New York high society whose members are characterized by overly expensive clothing and frequent champagne consumption. Observe, by the punch bowls a superserum enhanced Brooklyn male attempts to attract the attention of the Stark male while its watchful companion, Colonel Rhodes of the militarus airforcus family, effectively cockblocks.

He smiles to himself as he imagines trying to pitch the segment to Discovery Nature. Bruce swirls the champagne in his flute and sighs. He still isn’t sure why Fury insists he attend these functions. The other Avengers he can mostly understand. Tony’s been doing this for his entire life and Steve’s used to being a propaganda machine. Both Natasha and Clint know how to play people and Thor is, well, Thor.

Bruce on the other hand, the majority of the people are scared of him and those that aren’t, are usually annoying idiots who want to poke the Hulk for fun which, hint, not a good idea.

He sighs and leans back against the wall and pretends to sip at his champagne. Oh well, at least he’s got a good vantage point of Rhodes expertly shutting down Steve’s every attempt to lure Tony somewhere more secluded.

And now, Captus Americas tries to bribe the militarus airforcus with finger food but is chased away with a glare of aggression.


	17. Ignorance Is Bliss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper figures it out before he does.

Pepper figures it out before he does. She’s always known him better than Tony did himself.

They’re going over paperwork and shit when he gets a call from Steve. They chat briefly and Tony’s smiling by the time he hangs up until he looks back at Pepper who’s got the same look she does when he comes back with bullet holes in his armor. The one that Tony hates because she looks so sad and no one should look that sad because of him and she goes ‘ _Oh Tony, what have you done to yourself now.’_

And he stares at her, utterly confused because he’s been doing so well lately. No dramatic self-destructive spirals, no drunken angry scandals; he hasn’t had time, too busy lately hanging out with Steve doing nothing and everything and feeling oddly content with life.

Pepper shakes her head slowly at his confusion but before she can enlighten him the Avengers alarm calls and he’s off busy saving the world against giant animated Christmas trees.

Things get busy and the matter slips Tony’s mind until one afternoon, they’re sharing a bucket of honey glazed chicken wings and Steve somehow keeps missing the dab of sauce smeared on his left cheek and so Tony just leans in, easy as rain, to rub it off with his thumb and comes so close, so very close, to leaning just a little further in and…

Steve smiles at him and Tony blinks and casually pulls back as if everything was fine, just fine. 


	18. James Rhodes Wants A Single

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James entered the dorm to find his cactus, desk, and roommate all on fire.

James originally applied for a roommate on the basis that while the Airforce scholarship did include a decent stipend, it wouldn't hurt to save some money for the future. 

He realized he'd made a mistake when he walked into his dorm to find his cactus, his desk, and his new roommate on fire.

"Minor explosion," the other boy announced cheerfully, nonchalantly trying to pat out the flames dnacing along the sleeve of his grungy getup (which thankfully appeared to be somewhat flame retardent though James's cactus and desk did not seem to have been so lucky). "Don't worry about it handsome. I'll pay for all the replacements. Better ones even. With our names in gold plating on them or something. Oh and I'm Tony, your new roommate by the way."

Silently, James picked up the fire extinguisher that was sticking out of the pile of metal scraps and sprayed his soon-to-be ex-roommate.

 

 


	19. The Act of Loving You Is Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James is not pining. Really. Cause pining implies wanting someone to love you back and he doesn't.

James isn't sure if Bucky used to be in love with Steve Rogers like this before the Fall. It knows thought that even if he did, Steve Rogers had not loved him back. It may not have remembered Bucky but he remembered Steve.

Tony says that his father always thought Bucky had been. James likes to believe him. It's nice to have another thing in common with its past.

Tony also says to stop pining all over his workshop and ask Steve out already. James shakes its head. It's not pining, it explains, because pining implies desire for the return of affections and James...doesn't. That it could, that it was  _allowed_ to love was already more than he'd ever thought possible. To be loved was beyond him. The act of loving Steve was enough for it.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts and comments are most welcome!


End file.
